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How to Embroider Your Own Denim by Nikki Mogilever

With new trends coming out left and right, how can the average college girl keep up with the world of fashion, while still being thrifty and efficient? As a college girl filled up to her neck in readings and assignments, I realized that there is simply not a lot of time or money to support my fashion cravings. Recently, I fell in love with the renewed 90’s trend of embroidered denim but any store that sells jeans and jackets that encompass this trend are totally out of my price range. To satisfy my desire in a responsible way, I decided to take matters into my own hands and teach myself how to quickly and easily spruce up my old, worn-out jeans. Now you can too.

What You’ll Need:

Denim, prewashed

Scissors

Embroidery needle

Embroidery floss

Printer Sulky 8-1/2-Inch by 11-Inch Printable Sticky Fabri-Solvy Stabilizer (you can find this on Amazon or any craft store)

Step 1:

Grab the Sticky Fabri-Solvy Stabilizer and choose your design. This special fabric paper makes embroidery easy by allowing you to choose the pattern you want so that you can

trace over it. Simply replace the regular paper in your printer with the special paper, and print on the fabric side. Then, cut your design out from the paper. You are allowed to leave as much white space as you’d like since the paper will dissolve later on.

Then arrange the design on your denim, in exactly the configuration that you want. Peel the back paper on the non-fabric side and stick it onto your

denim.

Step 2:

Cut a meter long piece of embroidery floss and place it through the threading needle. Make sure to tie a secure knot on the needle itself. The length of the floss will vary depending on your design, but you can always add more floss. Later on in the article, you will find out how to extend your floss without affecting the aesthetic of your design.

Step 3:

Push the needle through from the underside of the denim, up through to the surface of your first stitch in the paper.

Make sure that you pull your floss all the way through, leaving a few centimeters of floss at the underside, and tie a secure knot.

Step 4:

Use the needle to go back through the paper on your pattern, just a few millimeters away from your first hole and pull all the way through.

Bring the needle back up through the denim, going from the underside through to the surface while making sure that this stitch is the same distance away from your last.

Step 5:

Push the needle through the loop of your first stich and pull all the way through.

Re -thread the needle through the most recent hole that you made. Pull the floss all the way through to finish your second stitch.

Step 6:

Now, replicate the same stitch by pushing the needle through the underside of the denim up to the surface, again with equal distances as performed previously. Pass the needle through the loop of the 2nd stitch and re-thread into the most recent hole to complete the 3rd stitch.

Step 7:

Proceed to stitch, continuing the same pattern along the lines of your design. If you want to change colours or add more length to your floss, tie a knot at the back of the denim on your most recent stitch. Then begin a new stitch with the new piece of floss, the same way you started your first stitch at the very beginning.

Step 8:

Once you are done, carefully cut away larger pieces of the paper. Once you have cut a good chunk of it off, place the denim in a warm water bath. The paper will magically start to dissolve! Apply slight pressure on the embroidery with your fingers to help loosen and dissolve the paper that is sitting under the stitches. Continue to dissolve until nothing feels sticky anymore.

Step 9:

Squeeze your denim to remove excess water. Lay it on a flat surface to dry.